5 Uncommon Kitchen Knives

Knives are essential tools for every cook. They can be used for everything from chopping vegetables to boning out a chicken or filleting a fish. If you’re like most home chefs, you probably have your favorite knives that you use the majority of the time. Most likely a chef knife, a good bread knife, and maybe a smaller paring knife or utility knife. You most certainly can get most cutting, slicing, and chopping jobs are done with these knives. However, it’s important to know what other blades are out there and why they might be beneficial in certain instances.

Specialist cutting jobs like dividing a full fish into individual portions or breaking down a chicken are perfect examples. They require specialized knives that have specific features for these jobs, and you’ll need the right tool to get your job done safely and efficiently! Some jobs will need a little more finesse than your common knives will allow for. Your chef knife will take care of most jobs, but in other instances, it will be too clumsy for the task at hand. This article will introduce 5 uncommon kitchen knives that every home chef should consider having in their kitchens!

A quick note on knife care and maintenance

Remember that storage is important for your knives if they’re going to maintain their edge and last as long as they should. Keeping your knives well maintained is just as crucial as buying top-quality blades. You need to consider this before rushing out to buy new knives.

You should clean your knives properly after every use, dry them off completely, and then store them appropriately. If your blade feels a little dull you can try honing it against the back end of another knife. As it could be that the edge has folded over a little rather than gone blunt. If this doesn’t work, however, and you don’t feel comfortable sharpening the blade yourself, you should consider taking it to a professional knife sharpening service.

Five unusual knives to have in your kitchen

These knives will make certain tasks easier if you have them to hand in the kitchen.

The Nakiri knife

The Nakiri is known as the Japanese vegetable knife and is one of the best Japanese knives you can buy if you like the idea of adding a more exotic blade to your kitchen collection. Nakiris look like a miniature cleaver and have very thin blades. Which makes them perfect for slicing through vegetables in one swift move. Although these knives are among the best knives for cutting vegetables. It is also possible to use these knives to cut through meat, as the flat blade is ideal for cutting into pieces of chicken or beef.  Although you’ll have to stick to smaller pieces of meat unless you also go for…

The Cleaver

A cleaver is similar to the chef’s knife in that it is a chunky, weighty blade. The cleaver is much thicker though, and the blade much heavier than a standard chef knife. As it is built for purpose, rather than being an all-rounder like the chef knife. That purpose is cutting through bones, as well as tougher meat that needs to be cut into chunks or strips. A cleaver isn’t just about brute force though – they’re also very good at slicing vegetables thanks to their relatively thin edge. For those reasons, if you have an extensive collection of knives, a cleaver would be a good addition to your kitchen arsenal.

The Fillet knife

The fillet knife is a long, flexible blade that’s perfect for removing the silver skin from fish. It can also be used to make very thin cuts of meat and vegetables. The best filleting knives are typically between 12 cm and 20 cm in length, making them longer than most other kitchen utensils.

The blade is long and flexible so that it can maneuver around bones, removing the skin from fish with ease. This is a vital knife if you fish yourself or if you would like to buy fish whole and fillet them at home as your pairing or utility knife won’t be as flexible and so will make a much messier job of it. A boning knife is similar to a fillet knife, although less flexible.

The Ceramic knife

Ceramic knives are very different from steel blades because they are much harder. In fact, they’re nearly as hard as diamonds. The blade of a ceramic knife is made from zirconium oxide powder and whilst it won’t rust or corrode like standard stainless steel knives, it should only be washed by hand and not put in the dishwasher, and will chip if dropped on a hard surface. Ceramic knives are also more brittle than steel blades so they should be handled with care and not used to cut anything harder or thicker than meat, vegetables, etc…

They are great additions to your kitchen though because the best ceramic knives tend to hold their edge for longer because of their extreme hardness. They also won’t react to acidic foods such as lemons and tomatoes, meaning you can chop them up with your ceramic knives.

The Salmon Knife

Finally, we have the salmon knife! The salmon knife is a long and thin blade that has been designed for cutting very delicate foods. Such as a freshly poached side of salmon. Again, this fish knife will make certain cutting tasks much easier. And cleaner than standard and more brute-like blades would manage. This knife is also great for slicing brisket too!

Conclusion

The five knives we’ve listed above may be uncommon. But, they can make certain tasks much easier and cleaner than more common or traditional blades would manage. This is something to consider depending on how your standards are in the kitchen. The other thing to remember is knife storage. If you are going to add to your arsenal, invest in a knife block or invest in some magnetic strips for the wall!